For both black and color prints, a small particle size toner is known to improve the image quality of the prints. High speed black and white printers require toner particles that can provide a matte finish in an oil-less fuser system with a low minimum fixing temperature (MFT) to enable high speed printing and at the same time achieve superior image quality in the resultant printed product.
Numerous patents and patent applications, including those above, have described various routes for providing ultra low melt toner compositions. Many of the approaches have focused on polyester-based toner compositions, as polyester resins are typically compatible with fuser oils typically used in electrostatographic imaging systems, which oils are generally not compatible with styrene resins. For example, when a styrene-based resin toner composition is used with an amino or silicone fuser oil release agent, the result is that the minimum fixing temperature of the toner increases to more than 230° C., or nearly 40° C. over the desired fusing temperature. However, it is generally believed in the art that the design space for styrene-based toner compositions has been so thoroughly explored, that styrene-based toner compositions cannot be used in ultra low melt toner applications.
There remains a need for an improved toner composition and process, which overcome or alleviate the above-described and other problems experienced in the art. There further remains a need for a toner composition suitable for high speed printing that can provide excellent release and hot offset characteristics, minimum fixing temperature, and suitable small toner particle size characteristics.